Town, Labor Union Agree To New 3-year Contract

Workers Get Raises, Some To Try 4-day Workweek

BERLIN — After more than a year without a contract, town labor union members have an agreement that gives them raises, and in an experiment for some, a four-day workweek.

The 40 members of Connecticut Independent Labor Union Local No. 52, who work for the town's highway, water, parks and recreation, recycling and animal control units, unanimously approved the contract Monday.

It calls for a 2.5 percent wage increase the first year and 2.75 percent increases in the second and third years. The raises are retroactive to July 1, 1997, when the union's last contract ended.

In return, the contract gives the town the flexibility to move some new workers to other departments as needed and implement a four-day workweek for town garage employees.

``I think it was a win-win situation for everyone,'' Town Manager Bonnie Therrien said.

Union President Matthew Giuffre represented the union in negotiations, which began last October. Therrien and Town Attorney Timothy Sullivan have represented the town.

The contract allows for an experiment in which some workers in the town garage may choose a four-day workweek, working longer days to get the fifth day off.

The proposal was first made by chief mechanic James Simons to then-Mayor Robert Peters in 1994. The garage would still be open five days a week, but could open a little earlier and close a little later for servicing the town's vehicle fleet.

The contract also provides that some town employees hired in the future will be ``floaters'' and may be reassigned from department to department as needed.

Both provisions will have to wait until at least October, when Therrien said she expects to have money to implement the plans.

In a savings to the town, the union agreed to some increased employee contributions toward health insurance. Preliminary estimates of the cost of the retroactive pay, including overtime pay, step adjustments, workers' compensation and Social Security, is $53,874 for the 1997 fiscal year, and an additional $150,000 over the next two years, according to finance director Gary Clinton.

The contract is the first Therrien has negotiated for the town from start to finish; she still has contracts to negotiate for the town's administrative union, which includes town clerical workers, and the middle management union, which includes department heads.